2023-2024 EPL Season

[LOGiK]

Match ball for this year is ok. Much better than the X design

 

[luiginb]

Looks like they rolled it through shit.

 

[les Habs]

Looks like they rolled it through shit.

What are you eating?

 

[gary69]

Looks like they rolled it through shit.

Or vomit.

 

[Savant]

Looks like they rolled it through shit.

What are you eating?

What are you pooping might be the better question

 

[koyvoo]

Comes o que cagas ou cagas o que comes??

 

[gary69]

Can we expect anything from Jack Grealish early in the season? Based on the tabloids he has been heavily boozing every day on holiday ever since Man City's season ended.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

 

[maclean]

Can we expect anything from Jack Grealish early in the season? Based on the tabloids he has been heavily boozing every day on holiday ever since Man City's season ended.

weee-oooo weee-ooo morality police

 

[JPBolts]

Figured I should put this here instead of the transfer thread

Brighton does recruit very well and I do like the addition of Dahoud, but without Caicedo and Mac Allister, their midfield feels a little soft to me at this point.

Romero gets in both XIs. I'd also take Kulu over Bailey and Bentancur would definitely start for Brighton right now.

I feel dirty saying that.

I wasn't counting Bentancur (oops) as he's still out with an ACL injury, otherwise he probably would be. I am also viewing it from a Villa pov as Emery plays with a very weird 4-4-2 style that goes to 6-2-2 out of possession.

Looking at the Brighton XI that beat Liverpool 3-0 on New Years Day (and removing departed players):

• Romero is in over Colwill's replacement
• Bentancur is in over Mac Allister's replacement
• Son is in over Mitoma
• Kulu is in over Solly March

I can't really speak to Brighton (that's for @robertmac43)... I think I have it right this time

Looking at the Villa XI that beat Newcastle 3-0 on April 15 (and removing departed players) Son is in over McGinn

I have last season production in my head right now as well which shifts my judgement. If its the Emery 4-4-2, Son can't play the McGinn wide midfielder role -- I didn't like McGinn pre-Emery as Gerrard had him playing as an inverted fullback but he's come on leaps and bounds... he would be in the position that Kane shifts Watkins to and I'm personally not dropping the work rate of Watkins.

Romero is in over Konsa/Mings

No shot I pick Romero over Mings, who's been absolutely outstanding since Unai's come in. Now, I have no clue what we are going to do as Pau Torres will definitely be starting and he's left footed, like Mings. If Romero had a manager that plays out from the back, like Unai, then he'd end up being super good but he hasn't really had that type of manager/training consistently.

Kane comes in, moves Watkins to the left, Ramsey replaces Dendoncker in midfield.
And then there are a handful of others that are a wash (Kulu vs. Buendia chief among them, and also Tottenham's FBs suck but so do Villa's).

That's also the game that Kamara was out for, so I don't think Ramsey would be switched. Kulu vs Buendia/Bailey is a wash, but we are supposedly going to spend a transfer record fee for a new wide player... I think Konsa might slide over to RB and we play a 3 back in position with Alex Moreno (who completely changed our left side attack after signing in Jan) pushing up forward. I am really looking forward to seeing Udogie this upcoming season I will say.

That's a very outlandish claim. Pretty much every Spurs player bar Kane, Emerson and Bentancur (who got injured mid-season) had a disappointing season to their standards, to little of fault of their own.

I wasn't counting Bentancur as he was injured (I actually think he's your most important player -- I texted my spurs friend after I saw him subbed that moment might be the turning point in your season for the worst)... I definitely don't think that they are blameless, but Conte/Stellini/Mason(to an extent) all should shoulder some blame.

 

[Power Man]

The dude in the middle looks REALLY happy

 

[Peen]

ST: Broja, Jackson
LW: Mudryk, Sterling
RW: Madueke, ?
CAM: Nkunku, Gallagher, Chukwuemeka, Hutchinson
CM: Enzo, Andrey Santos, Casadei, Hall
CM 2: Caicedo?, Ampadu?
LB: Chilwell, Cucurella, Maatsen
LCB: Badiashile, Colwill
RCB: Fofana, Silva, Chalobah
RB: Reece, Gusto
GK: Kepa, Bettinelli

Incredibly likely to be sold or loaned:
Lukaku, Aubameyang, CHO, Ziyech, Anjorin, Sarr, Moreira, Slonina, Humphreys + others.

My thoughts:

- Cucurella v Maatsen is interesting one. Hall factors into this but he’s played more as a left sided CM.
- Chelsea should keep one of Chalobah and Ampadu given how injury prone Wes and Thiago are. Also that we could use a backup defensive CM. If it’s not Ampadu, I keep thinking of Hojbjerg
- A lot of players behind Nkunku. This also makes the Cherki rumors confusing to me. And Franca. Apparently they want both too. So uh… what are they doing with those other guys. Maybe they see them as more inverted wide options. Then it might make more sense on the depth chart given the hole behind Madueke. But even then, only a spot for one.
- Which of Casadei and Santos win a spot will be interesting to see. Also the Hall thing.
- There’s a nice spot for Mbappe on the right
- Unsure what to make of the rest. Gallagher is reported to be available for 45MM but it’s hard to find willing squad players who are content being backups.

 

[gary69]

ST: Broja, Jackson
LW: Mudryk, Sterling
RW: Madueke, ?
CAM: Nkunku, Gallagher, Chukwuemeka, Hutchinson
CM: Enzo, Andrey Santos, Casadei, Hall
CM 2: Caicedo?, Ampadu?
LB: Chilwell, Cucurella, Maatsen
LCB: Badiashile, Colwill
RCB: Fofana, Silva, Chalobah
RB: Reece, Gusto
GK: Kepa, Bettinelli

Incredibly likely to be sold or loaned:
Lukaku, Aubameyang, CHO, Ziyech, Anjorin, Sarr, Moreira, Slonina, Humphreys + others.

My thoughts:

- Cucurella v Maatsen is interesting one. Hall factors into this but he’s played more as a left sided CM.
- Chelsea should keep one of Chalobah and Ampadu given how injury prone Wes and Thiago are. Also that we could use a backup defensive CM. If it’s not Ampadu, I keep thinking of Hojbjerg
- A lot of players behind Nkunku. This also makes the Cherki rumors confusing to me. And Franca. Apparently they want both too. So uh… what are they doing with those other guys. Maybe they see them as more inverted wide options. Then it might make more sense on the depth chart given the hole behind Madueke. But even then, only a spot for one.
- Which of Casadei and Santos win a spot will be interesting to see. Also the Hall thing.
- There’s a nice spot for Mbappe on the right
- Unsure what to make of the rest. Gallagher is reported to be available for 45MM but it’s hard to find willing squad players who are content being backups.

Can't they register only 25 players for EPL? Hall is probably young enough not to have to be registered, but is anyone else?

If they can't / won't sell Cucurella, maybe Maatsen has to go on loan again. And 1 or 2 of Santos, Casadei, Hutchinson.

 

[Peen]

Can't they register only 25 players for EPL? Hall is probably young enough not to have to be registered, but is anone else?

If they can't / won't sell Cucurella, maybe Maatson has to go on loan again. And 1 or 2 of Santos, Casadei, Hutchinson.

Yeah the depth chart I made was of players who are currently actually in the mix to see where the dominos are going to fall.

IIRC Maatsen’s camp doesn’t want a loan but no team has met (or come close) to Chelsea’s £25MM asking price.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Man u have sent Delilah to take Samson's power

 

[bluesfan94]

Can't they register only 25 players for EPL? Hall is probably young enough not to have to be registered, but is anyone else?

If they can't / won't sell Cucurella, maybe Maatsen has to go on loan again. And 1 or 2 of Santos, Casadei, Hutchinson.

The following qualify as u21 for Chelsea and need not be registered: Chukwuemeka, Madueke, Slonina, Colwill, Gusto, Casadei, Hall, Santos, Moreira, Maatsen, Hutchinson, Humphreys

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

This interview is bound to put a lot of speculation around him to bed.

TLDW:

- Has recently come out of a mental health rehab facility. Says he's feeling better than ever.

- Considered retiring at 24.

- Became addicted to sleeping pills. Suggest that other footballers are too. Would become addicted to alcohol too.

- A lot of his issues are rooted in his childhood traumas when he lived with his biological parents.

- Has kept it very close to himself, not talking to or seeking help from anyone about it until recently.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

• Revealed he spent six weeks in rehab in the United States this summer to help him with a sleeping pill addiction
• Opened up on childhood trauma of how he was molested by his biological mum's friend aged six
• Admitted he started smoking when he was seven and dealing drugs when he was just eight
• Revealed he was hung off a bridge by a man from his local area as a child
• Says he feels betrayed by his biological parents and has no interest in a relationship with either of them
• Admitted he seriously contemplated retiring from football at just 24
• Hailed Mauricio Pochettino as the 'best' manager he's ever played for and shunned others because they were 'fake'
• Revealed Jose Mourinho apologised for calling him 'f***ing lazy' but it never made it into Tottenham's Amazon Prime documentary
• Praised Everton manager Sean Dyche's 'understanding' in recent months and is aiming for 'a big season' for the Toffees

 

[spintheblackcircle]

You never know what people have to deal with.....I hope he finds happiness.

If you can't have empathy for him.....

 

[luiginb]

You never know what people have to deal with.....I hope he finds happiness.

If you can't have empathy for him.....

Much appreciation for Gary Neville as a human being after watching this too.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

 

[luiginb]

Did I mispronounce Sean Dyche my whole life?

 

[Brunkmeister]

All the love for Dele Alli. Took a lot of courage to do that. Puts things into perspective. We sit here and judge these players without knowing anything about what’s hiding behind the scenes.

 

[phisherman]

 

[HeHateMeFrisbee]

This interview is bound to put a lot of speculation around him to bed.

TLDW:

- Has recently come out of a mental health rehab facility. Says he's feeling better than ever.

- Considered retiring at 24.

- Became addicted to sleeping pills. Suggest that other footballers are too. Would become addicted to alcohol too.

- A lot of his issues are rooted in his childhood traumas when he lived with his biological parents.

- Has kept it very close to himself, not talking to or seeking help from anyone about it until recently.

There's a really good article in The Athletic from 2021 about the amount of players on sleeping pills:

Football's addiction to sleeping pills - 'a disease spreading quietly across the game'

The Athletic talks to people in the game about the rise in addiction to sleeping pills and the dangers of it

theathletic.com

Seems it's pretty widespread and everyone is pretty quiet about it.